Is Salah destroying his Liverpool legacy?

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is destroying his own legacy, says former England striker Wayne Rooney.

Egyptian Salah said on Saturday that he feels he has been "thrown under the bus" by Liverpool and that his relationship with manager Arne Slot has broken down.

Rooney believes that manager Slot must now show his authority and not include Salah in Tuesday's Champions League match against Inter, or Saturday's home game against Brighton.

"Slot needs to assert his authority, remove him and tell him 'you're not travelling with the team, because what you said is unacceptable,'" Rooney said on the latest episode of his podcast.

"Go to the African Cup of Nations and let everything calm down. If I were there, there would be no way he would be in the team."

The Manchester United legend believes that Salah, Liverpool's perennial star, must either get over his differences with Slotin or leave the team.

"It needs to be resolved quickly one way or another."

Salah, 33, has scored 250 goals in 420 appearances for Liverpool. But he has not started the last three games, and was on the bench in Saturday's 3-3 draw with Leeds United.

His statement after the match caused a stir.

"I've said many times before that I have a good relationship with the coach and suddenly we don't have any relationship anymore. It seems like the club has thrown me under the bus. That's how I feel. I think it's clear that someone wanted me to take all the blame."

The Egyptian's 29 goals last season helped Liverpool win the Premier League title. He signed a new two-year contract in April. Rooney questioned why Salah, who joined Liverpool from Roma in 2017, had made the comments publicly.

"He is ultimately destroying his legacy at Liverpool," the five-time Premier League winner stressed.

"It would be sad for him to ruin it all. He has made a grave mistake."

Liverpool are in serious trouble this season. They are in ninth place, 10 points behind leaders Arsenal. They have won only seven of their first 15 games. Salah has scored four goals in 13 appearances.

Rooney said Salah would be wrong to say "I don't have to fight for my position every day because I've earned it". Rooney stresses that time catches up with everyone and that Mo Salah has not been in the best form this season. According to Rooney, to play you have to be in the best form every week.

"If I were his team-mate, I wouldn't be happy with what he said because Liverpool need him the most right now. He's basically put Liverpool under the bus with his words. He was incredible for Liverpool, but he showed a lack of respect for his team-mates, the manager and the fans with those words. I'm sure in a few years he'll regret the words he said," Rooney said.